Ramming device for ramming a round of ammunition into a gun barrel



Apiil 26, 1960 H. W. ALDRIN RAMMING DEVICE FOR RAMMING A ROUND 0F AMMUNITION INTO A GUN BARREL Filed June 9, 1958 Fig.l

IA VF/VT'OR Hay/R Y ML H! N 1 71 OR/A/ HTTORNEVS as the rammer and must travel distance, whereby close limitations are imposed upon the the spring energy to the rammer arrangement which acts upon the rammer during part of tes t me present invention relates to a ramming tier/ice for .Iramininga 'rouhd of ammunition into a gunfbari'el, and more particularly into the barrel of an automatic recoiling gun.

Y;Ramming devicesffor automatic guns generally cornprise.'a rammer-which is slidablefin the direction of the axisof the bore of the gunbarrel and which engages the around, or more specifically the bottom flange of the cartridge casing, thereby ramming the round home. 'In

.ramrning devices asheretofore known, the rammerIi's' actuated by oneor more strong helical springs, thefree ends of which when released move in the samedirection through about the same possible dimensions of the spring or springsffAs is well knowmthe; potential energy that can be stored in acompression loaded spring is substantially proportional tothe weight of the spring and substantially independent of the dimensions of the spring.

ce of any design, :a portionyof the .In :a ramming devi stored spring energy is consumed by the force required I Ace 2,933,982" Patented Apr. 26, 1960 2 I a Fig. .1 is an elevational sectional view ofaramming device according to the invention, and

1Fig. ;2jshows 'a' perspective view of the ramming device of Figfil. 1 t

Referring now to the figures in detail, the exemplified ramming device comprises a'lever 1 which is pivotal about a pivot 2 supported on a casing part of the ramr'ning device. A .short' and heavy pressure "spring '3 coacts with lever 1 andseeks to turn the same'in'count'erclockwise direction as shown. Lever l'isrestr'ained against the-ren me spring 3 by means of a pawl4 engaging the lever. Thepawl ispivotally supported ona locking bridge '5 which in turn .is pivotally mounted bymeansof a'pivot 6 'se'curedlto apart 'offthe casing of the. rammingdevice. Bridge 5 is prevented from turning in counter-clockwise "directionlby, aflng 7 and is prevented froinflturning clock-4 wise by a pivotal pawll8engaging the'br idge. Byturnin'g the pawl 8inclockwise direction, bridge 5 is released 'for upwards movement, and the lever 1 will exert "a torque upon the bridge in clockwise factrthat'thctcontact surface between pawl 4 and arm 1 isnot at right angles to a line through the surf'acean'd the pivot center of bridge 5. Pawl '3 may be turnediby for the acceleration of the moving spring end and the rammer. Obviously this portion ofthe energy is lost for the intended action, namely the ramming of the round.

Accordingly, it is desirable to keep the force required for accelerating the moving spring end and the rammer as low as possible, or in other words, to utilizea maximum portion of the available total force for ramming a round.

It is an object ofthe present invention to provide a novel and improved ramming device of the general kind above referred to, in which the ratio of energy used for acceleration of the spring or rammer and acceleration of} the round respectively is highly in favor of ramming: the round.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved ramming device in which the spring energy is utilized to the fullest possible extent by transmitting by means of a lever the rammer movement at a right angle, that is in the most favorable direction of force. I

Still another object of the invention is to provide a ;'novel and improved ramming device design-in which the distance of the required spring movement is shorter than the distance of the required rammer movement. As a 7 result, the actuating spring can obtain the form of a short and heavy spring'which affords the advantage of highly favorable spring conditions due to the aforementioned weight dependency of the spring force.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be pointed out. hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims forming-part of the'application. i

In the accompanying drawing a preferred embodiment 0tv the invention is shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation. V

In the drawing:

comprises two lpa ralle'l arms which are 1 pivot shaft '2. Thefree end of recessed at 910 receive a pin 16 the form of atwo-arm lever, pin 10 'fulcr'u'rn of. the rammer. are are; of the ramme'rfis raised to form a lip or log endual energy of the le ga'gin'gth'e bottom flan e 13 ofth'e cartridge casing of the round 14 to be rammed. The raised lug of the rammer is preferably made of resilient material such as spring steel. The other arm of the rammer terminates in a lug ls riding upon a guide surface 30 formed on a part of the ramming device. 7 Let it nowbe assumed that all the components are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in full lines and that lever 1 is released from pawl 4. Then the spring will abruptly turn lever 1 in counter-clockwise direction as shown. .The turning of the lever willlcarry along the rammer-whereby the round 14 is rammed at a correspondingly high speed.

raised lug of the rammerat the beginning of the ramming movement, the lug will readily absorb theshock of the contact between the rammer and resiliency of the lug thereby avoiding damage to the flange of the cartridge casing; The pressure exerted by the rammer upon flange 13 and vice versa will tend to turn the rammer in a clockwise direction as seen, whereby lug 15 is pressed against the guide surface 30 thus retaining the rammer in the appropriate position-for ramming.

As lever 1 approaches the end of its ramming movement, which is indicated in Fig. 1 iii-dotted lines, the lever will engage a buffer 1 which gradually absorbs the resi 1 vement. 1

In order tofock the ra device, pivot shaft 2 supports a coclii g lever 17, a reces -18 of which is engaged by a roller 19 supported by one arm 2% of a two-arm lever rotatable about a pivot 23 supported on the ramming device. The other arm 21 of the lever mounts a roller 22 which is engaged by a suitable curved guide (not shown) on the breech ring 24 on the barrel of a recoiling gun during the recoil movement of the gun. The gun barrel should be visualized as being of conventional design and is not shown to simplify the illustration. As a result, roller 22 will be forced downwardly whereby lever 1 is directions owing to the both supported on If flange 13 should not be'in direct abutment with the J the round; due to the e 12 could be kept into spring device following the arm 1, but in such case the turned through lever 17 into the direction in which spring 3 is compressed. When the lever has returned into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in full lines, spring 3 is loaded and pawl 4 again retains lever 1 in its cocked positiorn During the last part of the just described cocking-mo tion,'a lug 25 on the rammer engages a second stationary buffer 26 which is mounted on'the elevating tempt the During the ramming operation the rammer 12; 15 will bekept in the right position owing'to its engagement with the round. During the cocking'motion the rammer 12, 15 is allowed to turn freely-around the'pivot 10. Only during the last part 'of the cocking motion the, rammer will be kept in apositio'n ready for engagement with a round owing to the cont'act'between lug 25 and bufie'r26.

The buffer 26 cannot be replaced by an unmovable ing, as it must allow for an extra movement of arm 1 sufficient for the locking operation. Of course, the rammer the right position by means of a masses to be accelerated during the ramming operation would increase.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect tov a certain now preferred example and embodiment of the invention it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope it intended therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1'. A ramming device for ramming rounds of ammunition into the breech of a gun comprising, i'ncombination,

a casing, a rammer slidably supported upon said casing for movement along a linear path, anactuating lever, a

pivot mount carried by said casing out of said linear path of movementof said rammer pivotally supporting one end *of said lever for movement of the invention, and

between two angularly displaced limit positions in a plane substantially parallel to said slide path of said rammer, the opposite end of said actuating lever being drivingly connected to said rammer for displacing said rammer along said slide path in response to said pivotalmovernent of said lever, said lever during movement between said limit positions passing through a right, angle position relative to said rammer in saidslide pathspring means acting between said casing and said lever intermediate the ends of said lever in a direction substantially parallel to said slide path of said rammer, and releasable lock means releasably securing said leverin one cocked limit position of said rammer against said spring means.

2. A ramming device according to claim 1 and also comprising a rammer cocking means 'engageable with said lever for pivoting said lever into said cocked position against the action of the spring means.

I Y 3. A ramming device according to claim 1 wherein said rammer comprises a two-arm lever, a pivot shaft pivotally supporting said lever at an intermediate point to form the 'two arms thereof, said shaft being engaged by said actuating lever, one of said rammer arms having a lug engageable with a round during the ramming operation, the other rammer arm abutting against and restrained by a guiding surface on the ramming device, the'operational pressure between said lug and the round engaged by the lug pressing said other lever arm toward said guiding surface.

" "4. A ramming device according to claim 3 and further comprising buffer means stationarily mounted relative to the lever, said lever abutting against said buffer means in a' predetermined position of displacement.

Conlon Oct. 12. 1926 Henstrom et a1. Mar. 19, 1957 

